Monica first won over judges and voters with a magic weapon that helps a cleric aid her party members when they face off against incorporeal undead, an idea drawn from her own experience as a player. She followed that up with the map for a dwarven lady’s stronghold, a new take on a classic "headless" monster, a battle in a vile "hanging garden" of trapped cages and undead, and finally an adventure that brought many of those elements together into a tale of vengeance, undeath, and duty. At each stage she came up with an interesting and unexpected idea and left the voting public wanting to see more. We’re very excited to begin working with her to develop her vision for a Darklands adventure, and congratulate her on winning RPG Superstar!

Thanks and congratulations also go out to all the contestants, staff, judges, and especially the voters who picked an awesome set of finalists! RPG Superstar wouldn't be possible without the community's participation, and we're grateful for the ongoing support the contest receives.

What Time Is It?

Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 02:00 PM

It's adventure pitch time! It's been a long, strange road, but the last round of RPG Superstar 2015 is finally open to voting and participants can see the adventure pitches of our Top 4 contestants! One of those contestants is going to earn the voter's confidence and support, and go on to write their adventure pitch into a full adventure for the Pathfinder Modules line!

What Time Is It?

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

It's adventure pitch time! It's been a long, strange road, but the last round of RPG Superstar 2015 is finally open to voting and participants can see the adventure pitches of our Top 4 contestants! One of those contestants is going to earn the voter's confidence and support, and go on to write their adventure pitch into a full adventure for the Pathfinder Modules line!

So, what's it going to be? "Journey into Midnight" by Brian J. Fruzen? "Down the Blighted Path" by Monica Marlowe? "Bellflower in the Dark" by Kalervo Oikarinen? Or "The Hollowheart Conquest" by Christopher Wasko?

One of these new authors is going to get to add something to Golarion forever. It's up to you, the Paizo fan community, to decide which one!

So go read the entries, give it some thought, and vote for your favorite adventure pitch!

The Final Four!

Tue, Mar 3, 2015, 02:00 PM

Behold, our four finalists! They have navigated the surprise of creating a new category of magic item, diligently labored to create stand-alone maps, wrought creatures of the Darklands, and braved the travails of creating new and interesting encounters! Hundreds began this exhausting and arduous path, and now four have proven themselves the best of the year. As a benefit of being among the last group of finalists, each of our final four will have the opportunity to write for Paizo—Pathfinder Society Scenarios for the three runners-up, and an adventure for our Pathfinder Modules line for this year's RPG Superstar.

The Final Four!

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Behold, our four finalists! They have navigated the surprise of creating a new category of magic item, diligently labored to create stand-alone maps, wrought creatures of the Darklands, and braved the travails of creating new and interesting encounters! Hundreds began this exhausting and arduous path, and now four have proven themselves the best of the year. As a benefit of being among the last group of finalists, each of our final four will have the opportunity to write for Paizo—Pathfinder Society Scenarios for the three runners-up, and an adventure for our Pathfinder Modules line for this year's RPG Superstar. Learn more about our Top 4 here!

One more challenge remains to determine which of our finalists shall claim that grand prize, and it comes in two parts. First, each contestant must send a short pitch for their adventure idea to James Jacobs and myself to ensure the basic concept is something Paizo can publish. Once their pitches are approved, they must create a full adventure proposal, up to 3,000 words, to be judged and voted on.

Because this is the largest challenge of the contest, and they have to get approval before proceeding, we're giving our final four a bit more time than previous rounds. They have until 2:00 PM Pacific time on Friday, March 13th, to turn in their proposals. Each must be for a 32-40 page adventure for 5th level characters, set in Nar-Voth. Hopefully that allows the contestants to use the research they've done for rounds 3 and 4, so they can take the entire time from now until March 13th to craft and hone their perfect proposals.

It's been a great contest so far, and I hope everyone will join me in congratulating the final four on their success making it to the final round, and thank all our contestants for the fabulous work and ideas they've provided us throughout the previous challenges.

Encounters in the Darklands

Feb 24, 2015, 02:00 PM

Voting for Round 4 has begun! You can now go check out the RPG Superstar Top 8's entries and vote for your favorites. This round will determine our Top 4, who will submit their own adventure pitches for the final round. The ultimate winner and RPG Superstar will be determined out of these Top 4, who will earn a contract to write their own adventure for our Pathfinder Modules line!

Encounters in the Darklands

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Voting for Round 4 has begun! You can now go check out the RPG Superstar Top 8's entries and vote for your favorites. This round will determine our Top 4, who will submit their own adventure pitches for the final round. The ultimate winner and RPG Superstar will be determined out of these Top 4, who will earn a contract to write their own adventure for our Pathfinder Modules line!

As with every round this year, we set the bar just a little higher with the Round 4 requirements. The contestants had to manage to provide an encounter with our tightest word count restrictions ever, along with using a monster from a previous round and adding a trap, and then setting the whole thing in Nar-Voth. They also had to produce their second map for the contest, placing an additional set of design requirements into the same deadline as their writing. All the contestants did a great job creating interesting and creative encounters that fit the bill, and now it's up to the community to decide who did it the best!

The contestants that move on to the last round have just one more design challenge to face, so I encourage everyone to take the time to look at their entries this round and decide who you think will write the best adventure to enter the canon of Golarion. To help make that as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as possible, I'll preview a little of the rules for the upcoming last round:

The contestants' final challenge will be to create pitches for an adventure set in Nar-Voth for 5th level characters. This will allow the Final 4 to get the greatest benefit of the research and design they've already done for the last 2 rounds, freeing them to take their time and focus on their writing.

Also, we are very excited to announce that some of our Top 8 will be featured in a Know Direction podcast this weekend! Be sure to mark your calendar for this Saturday, February 28, at 5:30 PM Pacific time.

The community is a huge part of what makes this contest such a big success and we thank you! Go ahead and vote and help us determine our next RPG Superstar!

Announcing RPG Superstar 2015's Top 8!

Feb 17, 2015, 02:00 PM

This is an important milestone for the RPG Superstar contest. Making it to the Top 8 is a major achievement. The quality at this point is so high we actually disallow the Top 8 from entering future contests. These contestants have overcome some of the most difficult and unexpected challenges we've ever had in this contest, and for three rounds now have overcome everything we've thrown at them. My sincere congratulations to the Top 8, listed here with their winning monster entries.

Announcing RPG Superstar 2015's Top 8!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

This is an important milestone for the RPG Superstar contest. Making it to the Top 8 is a major achievement. The quality at this point is so high we actually disallow the Top 8 from entering future contests. These contestants have overcome some of the most difficult and unexpected challenges we've ever had in this contest, and for three rounds now have overcome everything we've thrown at them. My sincere congratulations to the Top 8, listed here with their winning monster entries.

Everyone brought amazing creativity and an eye for detail to the monster round. Despite being forced to work with a tight wordcount, a specific in-world location, and a limited CR range, the contestants created a wonderfully diverse set of monsters that could enhance any adventure.

With just two rounds left, we're doing out best to keep these designers on their toes. Again, the Design an Encounter round has been elevated to the highest level of difficulty. We require the contestants to design a new map for a location within Nar-Voth (in the subterranean realms of Golarion, Paizo's campaign world). Then they must design an encounter for that map, use another contestant's monster from a previous round, make the encounter balanced for a specific level range, and hit a wordcount between 1,300 and 1,400 words.

It's going to be tough, but these contestants have all proven they can take it!

Superstar Monsters Revealed!

Feb 10, 2015, 02:00 PM

We just unveiled the Round 3 entries of the Top 16 RPG Superstar contestants, making them available for everyone to check out and vote on! These competitors have gone through some of the toughest challenges we've ever had in this contest, including having the first round undergo a major rules change with no advance warning, making a full-page map in just three days, and now having to create a Bestiary-style Golarion monster native to Nar-Voth, including a physical description, stat block, and general monster description, in 550 to 600 words.

Superstar Monsters Revealed!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

We just unveiled the Round 3 entries of the Top 16 RPG Superstar contestants, making them available for everyone to check out and vote on! These competitors have gone through some of the toughest challenges we've ever had in this contest, including having the first round undergo a major rules change with no advance warning, making a full-page map in just three days, and now having to create a Bestiary-style Golarion monster native to Nar-Voth, including a physical description, stat block, and general monster description, in 550 to 600 words.

I encourage everyone to take a look and then vote on your favorites. This is an especially crucial stage of the Superstar contest. The contestants who move on to the next round become the Top 8, a level of success so high it disqualifies them from entering in future years. The Top 8 are also all competing for important opportunities, since the Top 4 finalists each have a chance to write official material for Paizo. The winner obviously gets to write for the Pathfinder Modules line, but the other three finalists also gain the opportunity for a paid commission to write a 16-page Pathfinder Society Scenario.

We've had amazing community feedback and participation this year, and we very much appreciate your involvement. The forum members who voted hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of times in Round 1 made it possible for the judges to go through hundreds of entries of new magic items, and I thank them all for their massive help. Everyone who comments, critiques, and discusses the submissions in every round helps the competitors grow, and shows everyone know what kinds of things the Pathfinder fan base enjoys. And, of course, community voting determines the winners of each round from here on out.
So go take a look, see what creative monstrosities our newest Superstars-in-Training have produced, and use your votes to help determine which of them are going to earn the chance to help shape the Pathfinder RPG in years to come.

Top 32 Announced!

Jan 20, 2015, 02:20 PM

We are thrilled to announce the RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32 finalists! The community has cast thousands of votes for the submitted magic items in our Open Call round and helped our judges, Liz Courts, Mark Seifter and myself narrow down the final entries. They are, in alphabetical order:

Top 32 Announced!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

We are thrilled to announce the RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32 finalists! The community has cast thousands of votes for the submitted magic items in our Open Call round and helped our judges, Liz Courts, Mark Seifter and myself narrow down the final entries. They are, in alphabetical order:

Alternates

This contest is an important part of Paizo's efforts to find new talent and give fans the opportunity to prove they have what it takes to join our stable of freelance writers. Thank you to everyone who voted in the Open Call! And to our Top 32, good luck in Round 2!

Round 2 is Coming

Jan 17, 2015, 12:00 PM

As I suggested I might, I'm going to give you the general guidelines for the mysterious "Create a Map" round the Top 32 will face starting Tuesday. This isn't official (the official rules will be posted Tuesday), but it's not a trick either—this is just a casual discussion of what we're looking for, and what we expect.

Round 2 is Coming

Saturday, January 17, 2015

As I suggested I might, I'm going to give you the general guidelines for the mysterious "Create a Map" round the Top 32 will face starting Tuesday. This isn't official (the official rules will be posted Tuesday), but it's not a trick either—this is just a casual discussion of what we're looking for, and what we expect.

For Round 2, contestants will be asked to provide a full-page map, or a previously unmapped fantasy-themed location in Golarion. Submissions will need to be sent by email before the deadline. It needs to be 8.5" x 11", and approximately 150 dpi when submitted. Your map may be color, grayscale, or black and white, and may be hand-drawn or computer-generated.

The map itself is the entry, so it is important to make it interesting and creative. Above and beyond all the tips on making your map legible and having enough information for a cartographer to be able to create a publishable map from your entry, it's crucial you make sure you map something that really needs a map. If the map isn't needed to understanding what the area is like and how characters may move around in it, then it's a waste of space that could be used for something else. If the map is boring, no one will care about the location it represents.

No one needs a map of a 20-foot by 20-foot room with a door centered in the north and west walls, or of a forest that's six miles long and three miles deep with a single road and one town in the middle. Your map should be something that sparks the imagination, and leads to interesting encounters. It should also use the 8.5" x 11" space well. A map that clearly ignores half or more of the page will be disqualified.

Your submission need not be something that could be published, but it must be something that could be used by a GM to run a game set in the mapped location, and it must have all the information a cartographer needs to make the final map. Voters are asked to vote not on artistic talent, but on clarity, imagination, and usefulness.

Maps are incredibly important, and they are a skill we simply haven't emphasized enough in the past. A good map can get a GM or players excited about a location before they have read a single word, while a bad map wastes space and may even confuse people. Even very good adventure writers can produce maps that have to be entirely redrawn by our developers or (worse) be so incomprehensible we have to abandon them and rewrite an adventure to use a map we can create ourselves.

Freelancers able to create clear and imaginative maps that don't need us to do anything but send them to a cartographer have a huge advantage over those who can't (and may even get work to create sketches of maps we then hand to adventure writers).

It's a big challenge, but it's also part of what I was talking about when I said if you are a finalist this year, I want you to be confident you have the skills it takes to become a successful RPG freelance adventure writer.

Keep Your Eyes on the Stars!

Dec 15, 2014, 03:29 PM

The deadline for Round 1 of RPG Superstar 2015 is tomorrow, Tuesday, December 16 at 2:00 PM Pacific time! We've had a number of lively discussions and great advice, but in the end it’s all about the item. Don't miss the chance to be part of the Superstar experience, be sure to get your submission in well before the cut-off!

Keep Your Eyes on the Stars!

Monday, December 15, 2014

The deadline for Round 1 of RPG Superstar 2015 is tomorrow, Tuesday, December 16 at 2:00 PM Pacific time! We've had a number of lively discussions and great advice, but in the end it’s all about the item. Don't miss the chance to be part of the Superstar experience, be sure to get your submission in well before the cut-off!

Get Ready to See Stars!

Dec 9, 2014, 02:00 PM

It's that time of year again, we're beginnig to announce details for the next RPG Superstar™ contest! Every year, Paizo holds an annual open-call RPG design competition to give the best and brightest aspiring game designers a chance to show the world their talent. This year, we're going to be shaking things up a bit.

Get Ready to See Stars!

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

It's that time of year again, we're beginnig to announce details for the next RPG Superstar™ contest! Every year, Paizo holds an annual open-call RPG design competition to give the best and brightest aspiring game designers a chance to show the world their talent. This year, we're going to be shaking things up a bit.

For starters, I'll be acting as your host throughout the contest. For those of you who have no idea who I am, my name is Owen K.C. Stephens and I was brought on as a developer by Paizo earlier this year. I work primarily on the Pathfinder Modules and Pathfinder Player Companion lines, and I have a long history of writing for Paizo on a number of products. Since the prize for winning RPG Superstar™ is an adventure we'll publish in one of our RPG Modules, I'm getting involved in the contest early and will be helping oversee it this year.

The contest itself is going to be ramping up the degree of difficulty in several rounds as a result of how consistently amazing the entries have been year after year. We're convinced the talent pool exists to make several of the stages tougher than previous years, and that the best contestants are going to thrive under the pressure. That shouldn't discourage anyone from entering! Instead, think of this as an even better test of your skills. Anyone who makes it to the last few rounds of this year's contest should be confident they have what it takes to get work in the tabletop RPG industry.

What won't change is the core concept and processes we've developed over several years of RPG Superstar™. We have some surprises for you, and some rounds will have new challenges, but things will seem very familiar to fans who have followed the contest for several years. Where things significantly change from previous contests, I'll provide extra guidance on how we envision the round going, and why we made the change.

The first big change: entries for Open Call are not wondrous items, as they have been in every other year of the contest. Instead we're asking contestants to create a magic item from one of the following categories: armor, shield, weapon, staff, ring, or rod. As always, the magic item should conform to the rules and format given in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook for items of that type. In the case of a magic suit of armor, shield, or weapon, it should be an example of a specific armor, shield, or weapon, rather than one created by adding magic special abilities. Think breastplate of command and life-drinker, rather than a +1 ghost touch chain shirt or +1 keen flaming bastard sword. Further if you decide to do a magic staff make sure you have a concept that elevates it above a "spell-in-a-can" with multiple spells. We are, after all, looking for Superstars!

We're making this change to the first round for a number of reasons. First, we want to strongly encourage contestants to create something new, rather than re-submitting an item they've used in previous years (even if they've modified it since then). Secondly, we want to see how well people can do with a surprise and a tight deadline. Writing in the RPG industry is often done with short schedules and sometimes the needs of a project change after you've already started working on it. By shaking things up in the first round, we'll get finalists who know they can handle the chaos and pressure of writing for RPG projects in real-world conditions.

Open Call is otherwise very much as past years. The open call begins today, and you need to have your entry in by December 16 at 2:00 PM Pacific time. We'll be maintaining public voting for these initial entries as we've done for the past 2 years. So your magic item will initially be judged by being presented to voters along with another randomly determined item. That means if you submit a magic ring it'll be compared to many items that aren't rings, so be sure you present something that can stand up to competition in any form. The top 32 items will be determined by the community along with feedback and oversight from our judges for this round, and those 32 competitors will face other game design challenges in the remaining rounds of the competition!

So loosen up your creative muscles, start crafting a magic item, and get ready to be the next RPG Superstar™!

2014 Cosplay Contest Champions!

This years Gen Con cosplay turnout was the best we've seen yet, and its my great pleasure to announce this years contest winners!

2014 Cosplay Contest Champions!

Friday, September 19, 2014

This years Gen Con cosplay turnout was the best we've seen yet, and its my great pleasure to announce this years contest winners!

Carly took a 5-foot step into first place with her iteration of Imrijka, truly bringing the half-orc heroine to life with her steadfast dedication to details.

Dustin's representation of Sajan received a flurry of commendations, earning him a solid second place in this years votes.

Levi's devotion to his work blessed him with third place in the contest, praise the sun goddess!

Thanks to everyone who swung by the booth to participate this year, your hard work is always one of the highlights my coworkers talk about when they get back from the convention. We hope to see you all next PaizoCon or Gen Con!

Gen Con 2014 Cosplay Contest!

Sep 9, 2014, 05:15 PM

This year has truly proven to be the biggest turn out yet for Pathfinder cosplay, with an exceptional cast of exception cosplayers. There are plenty of faces both familiar and new in this years participants, and it is my pleasure to introduce the fine folks that make up this years contest.

Gen Con 2014 Cosplay Contest!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

This year has truly proven to be the biggest turn out yet for Pathfinder cosplay, with an exceptional cast of exception cosplayers. There are plenty of faces both familiar and new in this years participants, and it is my pleasure to introduce the fine folks that make up this years contest.

Without further ado:

Ashley as Feiya, her attention to details is quite hexing!

Alex as Imrijka. She may be Half-Orc, but her costume is all awesome.

Angela as Seoni. Angela was one of the first cosplayers we saw at GenCon this year, amazing job!

Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine visited us at the booth as well!Mark did an exceptional job of bringing the elven eccentric to life, we're just glad he didn't get *too* in character.

Lyz as Seoni. The attention to the tattoos from both Lyz and Angela are exceptional. You could even say some of the runes on their arms look... familiar.

Here we have Christine as a decapitating barbarian. In front of her is the most dedicated Ned Stark method actor to grace the convention.

Emmanuelle as Kyra. Who needs a buckler or scutum when your faith is your shield!

And for our honorable mention, Paizo's very own Ryan as... Ryan.

Due to the number of participants this year we're going to be using a tally system, and the voting thread can be found here. You can vote on any one person you'd like, so make sure your vote counts! We'll tally the results at 2:00 PM Pacific time on Wednesday, September 17th and declare this years fan favorites shortly afterwards.

Getting in Character at Gen Con

Aug 10, 2014, 10:00 AM

As is yearly tradition, I'm happy to announce that Paizo's 7th annual Gen Con cosplay contest is nearly upon us! I'm always amazed to see what everyone is able to fabricate each year, and I know the rest of the staff absolutely adores seeing what everyone manages to surprise us with as well.

Getting in Character at Gen Con

Sunday, August 10, 2014

As is yearly tradition, I'm happy to announce that Paizo's 7th annual Gen Con cosplay contest is nearly upon us! I'm always amazed to see what everyone is able to fabricate each year, and I know the rest of the staff absolutely adores seeing what everyone manages to surprise us with as well.

This years costume contest runs the same rules as previous years. In order to qualify for one of the prizes your costume has to be identifiably from Pathfinder or Golarion, so dressing up as one of the iconics or Squeely Nord would have you be eligible, while dressing up as a White Mage wouldn't. Wait—White Mages are a playable archetype now? Oh my!

Swing by the Paizo booth and have one of our staff members get a picture of you in your fine finery, and make sure to let us know who you are on the Paizo website so we can give credit where credit is due.

This years 1st, 2nd, and 3rd best received costumers will find $50.00, $25.00, or $10.00 in store credit waiting for them on their account after our community determines who their favorite Pathfinder personifiers are.

Gen Con is less than a week away, we look forward to seeing you all there!

6th Annual GenCon Costume Contest Winners

Sep 19, 2013, 10:00 AM

The winners of this years Costume Contest have been tallied, with the fate of this years contest coming down to a matter of only a few votes between the top three contestants. Without further ado, I present this years top 3 rankings.

6th Annual GenCon Costume Contest Winners

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The winners of this years Costume Contest have been tallied, with the fate of this years contest coming down to a matter of only a few votes between the top three contestants. Without further ado, I present this years top 3 rankings.

Temmith & Jay ranked in first place. Jay's work is golden while Temmith's costume looks good enough that one may question if sorcery was involved.

Seoni & Valeros (Temmith & Jay)

MetalMaiden ranked 2nd in the polls, doing a godly job of portraying Shelyn.

Shelyn (MetalMaiden)

Helene ranked in 3rd as Sheila Heidmarch. Her costume came out wonderfully, and I can only venture a guess as to how much time she spent on it.

Shiela Heidmarch (Helene)

Congratulations to Temmith and Jay on their $50.00 in Paizo Store Credit, and to everyone else thank you for dropping by the booth. Regardless to if you were in a costume or just your GenCon finest we loved seeing everyone!

6th Annual Gen Con Costume Contest Voting!

Aug 30, 2013, 10:00 AM

Over the course of the last two weeks most of the staff have trickled back into the offices from Gen Con, sharing tales of great times, great people, and in some cases also sharing the con crud. As a cosplayer myself some of my favorite things to hear back from the other staff are about the cosplayers they met at the convention. Don't hesitate in knowing that we love the work you do as much as you love ours. Your costumes this year were incredible, and you'd be proud to hear just how excited some of the Paizo staff were when talking about meeting you.

6th Annual Gen Con Costume Contest Voting!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Over the course of the last two weeks most of the staff have trickled back into the offices from Ge Con, sharing tales of great times, great people, and in some cases also sharing the con crud. As an avid cosplayer I have a soft spot for the stories my coworkers tell of the cosplayers they meet at conventions, especially at Gen Con. Don't hesitate in knowing that we love the work you do as much as you love ours. Your costumes this year were incredible, and you'd be proud to hear just how excited some of the Paizo staff were when talking about meeting you.

For anyone who hasn't voted in the costume contest before, the rules are simple. We have pictures of the Pathfinder cosplayers who dropped by our booth presented below and its up to you, our fans, to decide a crowd favorite. Once you determine your favorite Pathfinder portrayal select them on the poll and click submit. Voting ends Tuesday at 1:00 PM Pacific time. At that point we'll tally up the results and determine this years winner and recipient of $50.00 in Paizo store credit!

Tell Me About My Characters

Jan 10, 2013, 10:00 AM

A few weeks ago we ran a contest, in which people competed to stat up characters from my Pathfinder Tales fiction. Choosing only three favorites from these entries was incredibly hard. There wasn't a dog among them—no offense, Arni—and of course almost everyone who built an entry (or five) did something unique.

Tell Me About My Characters

Thursday, January 10, 2013

I've been told, all right.

A few weeks ago we ran a contest, in which people competed to stat up characters from my Pathfinder Tales fiction. Choosing only three favorites from these entries was incredibly hard. There wasn't a dog among them—no offense, Arni—and of course almost everyone who built an entry (or five) did something unique.

With a little help from "Mean" Russ Taylor, I narrowed the field to five favorites. That made things even harder, because every one of them had something different to recommend it. Some were elegant in their simplicity, others demonstrated exacting (and rather flattering) attention to detail. Others just plain put me to shame, because you folks know the rules so much better than I do.

What won me over in the end was a combination of authenticity to the characters coupled with innovative or surprising design choices. My three favorite entries gave me a new way of looking at how those characters do what they do.

My Favorites (in no particular order)

Xellos (Jeggare)—This one is both highly faithful to the novels and a very innovative build, since the magus didn't exist when I first imagined the count. Excellent explanations. Just outstanding all around.

havoc xiii (Radovan)—While I originally thought of monk levels for Radovan, the cad works out really well. This is another innovative build that challenged my preconceptions even as it was faithful to what we see Radovan doing in the books.

Rosgakori (Kemeili)—Really excellent, a trifle more powerful than I'd imagined her, but in ways that fit. Spell selection a little different from what I'd sketched out for the book, but since I didn't show her casting every spell she knew, that's not a problem.

Very Honorable Mentions (also in no particular order)

Jesse Benner (Jeggare/Radovan)—Extremely faithful to the books, these straight-up builds are pretty close to what I'd jotted down in my notes. Although I hadn't given Radovan any fighter levels, they certainly make sense.

Yumeko (Goblin Who Swallowed the Wind)—A beautifully simple presentation of one of my favorite secondary characters. This one would have my "less is more" prize if I had a bag full of special awards.

LoreKeeper (Radovan)—A good basic build for Radovan, a little lower-level than I'd imagined but with all of the essentials. I love the explanation. That makes the entry—and those that followed its example—that much more interesting.

Tangaroa (Azra)—I actually like the "ugly little girl" take on Azra, and this version definitely pays attention to her abilities from the book. Azra's the character whose "build" I've most questioned since her first appearance, since the oracle class came out soon after.

Blue_Hill (Caladrel)—A very good interpretation of the character, and surprisingly close to what I statted up in Hero Lab. Well done!

Kevin Andrew Murphy (Iolanda)—I never gave Iolanda's game stats this much thought, but if I had, I hope I'd have come up with something this good. The skill and spell selection make perfect sense. In this version, she's even deadlier than I'd imagined.

Dave Gross: Stat Up My Characters!

Dec 15, 2012, 10:00 AM

We joke about gamers at conventions who want to tell you about their characters. Most of the time it's perfectly okay, but there's always that one guy who follows you into the bathroom talking about his +5 Holy Avenger. Dude. It's not all right.

Dave Gross: Stat Up My Characters!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Illustrations by Eric Belisle

We joke about gamers at conventions who want to tell you about their characters. Most of the time it's perfectly okay, but there's always that one guy who follows you into the bathroom talking about his +5 Holy Avenger. Dude. It's not all right.

As a long-time gamer, I sympathize with the desire to tell others about your paladin. Hell, in the Pathfinder Tales novels I'm basically telling you about my characters. Maybe it's time to turn the tables... with a twist.

When Prince of Wolves came out in 2010, James Sutter wrote a good article describing Radovan for Kobold Quarterly. I tease him that Charisma shouldn't be Radovan's dump stat, but I can't complain unless I stat him out myself.

But I won't. Or at least, I won't show those stats.

My secret is that with Hero Lab I have created character sheets for the important characters for all of my Pathfinder Tales novels. They're a big help when I deal with spell battles, but they also provide inspiration for action scenes. Can the game version of Radovan catch a knife thrown at him? I looked it up. Totally legit!

While I don't want to reveal any "official" stats to preserve the mystery of the characters, there's no reason you can't show us your version.

How would you stat up Radovan and Jeggare? How about Azra or Malena from Prince of Wolves? Burning Cloud Devil would be a challenge, as would Jade Tiger and all of the kami Arnisant meets in Master of Devils. Perhaps the most fun would be statting out Caladrel, Fimbulthicket, Kemeili, and Oparal from Queen of Thorns. And don't forget Ellasif and Declan from Winter Witch! I'm not sure Elaine or I ever did stats for them.

Post your character stats for any of my Pathfinder Tales characters in this blog's comments by January 2, 2013. With a little help from the Paizo editorial team, I'll choose three favorites to receive a signed copy of Queen of Thorns and a Radovan miniature.

What do you say? You've got my full attention. Tell me about my characters.

UPDATE: Additionally, each of the three winners will receive a free copy of Hero Lab from Lone Wolf Development. If the winner already owns Hero Lab, you’ll be able to select up to $20 worth of add-on packages for Hero Lab. The contest has also been extended to January 2, 2013.

Costume Contest Winner!

Aug 30, 2012, 10:00 AM

Costume Contest Winner! Thursday, August 30, 2012 Admittedly casting a vote in this year's Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest made for a tough call, but I don't think any of us expected a tie! That's right, after tallying up the votes, we're pleased to announce that Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class and Zach as Ezren can both be declared winners, and each will be awarded $50 in paizo.com store credit. Congrats, guys, and a big thank you to everyone who participated and voted! The costumes...

Costume Contest Winner!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Admittedly casting a vote in this year's Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest made for a tough call, but I don't think any of us expected a tie! That's right, after tallying up the votes, we're pleased to announce that Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class and Zach as Ezren can both be declared winners, and each will be awarded $50 in paizo.com store credit. Congrats, guys, and a big thank you to everyone who participated and voted! The costumes were all awesome this year, and we hope to see you in next year's contest!

Gen Con Costume Contest Voting!

Aug 23, 2012, 10:00 AM

Gen Con Costume Contest Voting! Thursday, August 23, 2012 Gen Con has come and gone, and with it the chance to enter the annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! There were a number of fine entrants this year, so take a look at the photos below and then vote for who YOU think should win $50 in paizo.com store credit! ... The clock's ticking, and voting will officially close as of 11pm next Tuesday. Cast your vote now! ... Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class. ... Zach as Ezren. ... Audrey...

Gen Con Costume Contest Voting!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Gen Con has come and gone, and with it the chance to enter the annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! There were a number of fine entrants this year, so take a look at the photos below and then vote for who YOU think should win $50 in paizo.com store credit!

The clock's ticking, and voting will officially close as of 11pm next Tuesday. Cast your vote now!

Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class.

Zach as Ezren.

Audrey and Emery as alchemist and rogue gnome sisters from their Jade Regent game. Check out the awesome starknife!

The three adventurers: Amy as a half-orc bard/Pathfinder Chronicler, Nicole as a human alchemist, and Natalie as a human paladin.

The Gen Con Costume Contest is Coming!

Jul 12, 2012, 10:30 AM

The Gen Con Costume Contest is Coming! ... Check out these awesome costumes from last year!Heads up, everyone! It's time to dust off those sewing machines and fabric paints and start getting ready for the Fifth Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! ... It's hard to believe that it's been five whole years since a priestess of Desna first showed us just how crafty our community could be (pun intended). In the years since, we've seen Pactmasters and witches, alchemists and Gray Maidens. But...

It's hard to believe that it's been five whole years since a priestess of Desna first showed us just how crafty our community could be (pun intended). In the years since, we've seen Pactmasters and witches, alchemists and Gray Maidens. But we know that there are more of you cosplayers out there, and we want to see you!

Here's the deal: At some point during Gen Con Indy this August, you show up to the Paizo booth dressed in your best Pathfinder costume—any monster, character, faction member, deity, or other figure from our world. In order to be eligible, your costume needs to be identifiably Pathfinder-related, not just generic fantasy—a knight isn't enough, but an Eagle Knight of Andoran is.

In addition to drawing a crowd of happy gawkers, you'll have your picture taken by a member of the Paizo staff. The best costumes—as decided by us—will end up on the Paizo blog once we return from Gen Con, at which point we'll allow the paizo.com messageboard community to pick their favorite. What criteria that mad and merry crew will use is anybody's guess, but whoever they select as the best Pathfinder cosplayer will walk away with 50 dollars in store credit! Even more importantly, the winner will go home knowing that he or she (or they—I'm still waiting for a life-sized Sandpoint Devil puppet) have entered the exclusive cadre of the Paizo Cosplay Winner's Circle.

Pathfinder Fan Fiction Contest Winners!

Sep 15, 2011, 10:00 AM

Pathfinder Fan Fiction Contest Winners! Thursday, September 15th, 2011 It’s that time again! After many sleepless nights combing through huge snowdrifts of printouts, the good folks over at Pathfinder Chronicler were able to whittle down this year’s entries into the Second Annual Pathfinder Fanfiction Contest to the final five—or rather, due to a tie, the final six: ... “Gozreh Provides” by Laura Bowlby ... “Bend as the Willow” by Dawn Fischer ... “Politics of Hell” by B. R. Bearden ......

Pathfinder Fan Fiction Contest Winners!

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

It’s that time again! After many sleepless nights combing through huge snowdrifts of printouts, the good folks over at Pathfinder Chronicler were able to whittle down this year’s entries into the Second Annual Pathfinder Fanfiction Contest to the final five—or rather, due to a tie, the final six:

As has now become tradition, the judges were kind enough to invite me to step in as a guest judge for the last round and cast the deciding vote. All of the candidates did an excellent job—the caliber was truly top-notch, and all six do the fanfic genre proud—but ultimately, only three people could take home the fabulous prizes of $100 in store credit for first place, and $50 each for second and third. And this year’s winners are:

First Place: Andrew Crossett for “The Grey Tern”

Second Place: Todd Stewart for “Completing the Circle”

Third Place: Dawn Fischer for “Bend as the Willow”

Honorable Mention: Though there’s no actual honorable mention prize, I wanted to call out “Luck’s Allegiance” by Alex Lindsay. While the other stories ultimately won on the strength of their writing, Alex really blew me away with his snappy dialogue and sense of adventure.

For a complete list of the Top 20, as well as many more awesome Pathfinder stories, head over to Pathfinder Chronicler. And while we’re on the subject, I want to note that each of the finalists will be appearing in the second Pathfinder Chronicler print anthology. Ted Thompson and the rest of the Chronicler folks really knocked us out last year with their lovingly crafted and high-quality anthology, which included a gorgeous cover by Pathfinder artist Eva Widermann. Well, this year they’ve decided to keep the tradition going with an equally stellar cover from Pathfinder artist Carolina Eade, previewed here for the first time! Both covers are beautiful, and I think I speak for all of us here at Paizo when I say that these are the sorts of things that make us so unbelievably proud of the Pathfinder community. (What’s more, I hear rumors that Ms. Eade will also be providing interior illustrations this year...)

Congratulations to everyone who competed, and I look forward to seeing you all again next year!